Cinder Path Tales

PADDY'S PROBATION in mine, we sallied forth. I was determined to ferret out the mystery, for such it was to me. Paddy wascertainly not drunkenough to see things, and what had given him the impression of a ghostly athletetopping the phantom hurdles at midnight I could not imagine. When the door shut after us, for a few moments I could see nothing; but when my eyes became accustomed to the darkness,we started across the fieldto the other side of the track, where was the straightaway over which Paddy hadseen the spook " a-hurd- lin'." When we reached it, for a few seconds we could see nothing unusual, but a little later we suddenly discovered at the same time a white figure near the finish coming toward us where we stood, perhaps thirty yards from the start. I knew we saw it at the same time, for although Paddy said nothing, his hand tightened on my arm, and he would have undoubtedly bolted then and there had I not held on to him. Now, I will confess that I was a bit sur­ prised and startled, for I thought that the only ghost was probably in Paddy's brain. When I saw the tall,white figure loom up in the darkness, I did feel a little queer, and remembered some blood-curdling stories